Cosco Scenera RF height limit

Ophelia

New member
My daughter is 14 months old and 25 lbs. Well over the 1 year/20 lbs rule for forward facing. Problem is, she is 34 inches tall and the height limit on her car seat is 36 inches RF. I'm not concerned at all about her kicking the back of the seat, because she rarely ever does. I'm more concerned about the fact that her head is about an inch and a half from the top of the shell. We got her a Graco Nautilus for when she can go forward facing, but the problem isn't us. Her Pediatrician said the rear facing weight limit is now 40 lbs and she needs to stay rear facing until then. How do we keep her rear facing when she will be over the height limit long before she hits 40 lbs. Not to mention the RF weight is only 35 lbs for the Scenera
 
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skylinphoto

New member
I would definately keep her rfing as long as possible. To a minimum of 2 yrs old if possible. I'll let someone else chime in about why.
And her feet touching the back seat ..that's not a concern at ALL. lol. Kids cross their legs, prop them up on the backseat, etc to get comfy when rfing. No worries there.

First, a rfing seat is outgrown when the kid reaches the weight limit of the seat or has 1 in or less of hard shell over their head.... make sure you are measuring height correctly:
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=30201

Second, you're correct, the Cosco Scenera goes to 35 lbs rfing.

There are a few seats that rf to 40 lbs. The Graco Myride, Sunshine Kids Radian seats manufactured after 09/2008, and Safety 1st Complete Air seat comes out real soon. I think that's it.

But, there are many seats that will get your kiddo to a good ffing age (2-4 years old). The First Years Truefit, Safety 1st 3 in 1 (new ones with 50lb ffing limit), Sunshine Kids Radian, Safety 1st Avenue, and many more.

I don't think you'll be needing the graco nautilus any time soon if you keep your little one rfing for a good amount of time. :)

ETA: You can have the seat more upright (as upright as 30degrees) now that she's older (if you don't already). That will normally give some more growing room as far as height goes.
 

Ophelia

New member
I only question the height limit because the owners manual for the car seat says max RF height 36 inches.
 

rochelle

New member
Its nice that your paed is recommending rear facing to 40lbs. but you can only rearface in the scenera to the RF limits of that seat which is 36" or 35lbs

Whether you want to buy another car seat to rear face your child to 40lbs or forward face her is a parental choice at that point in time
 

mommy2jasmine

New member
Since you still have 10 lbs to go and she is so young, if you aren't looking for something that goes to 40 lbs, I would at least look at a longer seat. It sounds like, if you're measuring her correctly, that she's a little on the tall side. If so, the True Fit is a great car seat for taller kids. Seats that would accommodate height as well as have that 40 lb rear facing limit would be the Sunshine Kids Radians. Definitely check both those seats out. I have a BLVD but will be more than likely switching to one (a Radian) this fall, even though I've got a shorty. I really think they're great seats.

Also, I think that's AWESOME that your ped. is recommending RF till 40. That's practically unheard of still. Definitely take his advice. 2 yrs would be great. 3 even better. 4-5 even, optimal. I hope we've helped.
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
Height limits on seats are a guideline that the seat makers put on because the government tells them they need a limit. They can't predict how different children are (some are short torsoed, some are long torsoed, and they fit *completely* differently in every seat). What's most important is that you follow the 'one inch rule' when rearfacing, that your child's head is about one inch below the top of the seat so that when the seat dumps down and back in a crash, the head will stay contained and not strike something in the vehicle, like the front seatbacks or door.
Check out this picture of my dd in her RF convertible with about one inch of seat shell over the top of her head http://picasaweb.google.com/joolstag/LeahInCarseats#5198547490415767154 The Scenera is taller than the Roundabout she's sitting in, she would have had another 6-12 months to fit in the Scenera (but she has a very short torso compared to her legs).
Anyway, hope that helps (everyone else touched on the ped giving the wrong advice...yes, 40 pounds is safest to RF, but only 3 seats have that limit, and not all of them are tall enough to do it....saying RF to 2 would be a more reasonable goal for him to be mentioning, as most seats on the market accommodate most kids to that age and it's what AAP newsletters are saying http://aapnews.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/30/4/12-a)

Hope that helps! You're doing a great job RFing so long, too! :)
 

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